LEED HIMMEL INDUSTRIES, INC.

According to U.S. Department of Labor enforcement records, LEED HIMMEL INDUSTRIES, INC. — a alumina and aluminum production and processing facility located at 75 LEEDER HILL DRIVE, HAMDEN, CT 06517 — was the subject of a formal OSHA inspection that resulted in 6 citation(s) and cumulative proposed penalties of $19,500.00. The inspection case was opened on 2018-09-27.

DOL records document workplace safety violations warranting formal citation under the OSH Act. While classified at the standard enforcement level, all OSHA citations require corrective action and may indicate areas where workplace safety programs should be strengthened.

BLS Injury Data: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2022), this industry sector has an occupational injury rate of 3.3 per 100 full-time workers — 22% above the national average of 2.7. The sector fatality rate is 2.3 per 100,000 workers.

Industry Benchmark: The total penalty of $19,500.00 is more than 3.0× the national average of $6,436.62 for facilities in the Manufacturing sector (NAICS 331319). This sector encompasses 82,943 inspected facilities nationwide with aggregate penalties totaling $533.9M.

State Context: Within CT, this facility's penalty places it at the 98th percentile among 33,669 inspected facilities. The statewide average penalty is $3,368.63.

Citation Analysis: The inspection produced 6 citations spanning 6 distinct OSHA regulatory standards. The citation breakdown includes: 5 serious — A workplace hazard that could cause death or serious physical harm exists, and the employer knew or should have known about the condition. 1 other-than-serious — The violation has a direct relationship to job safety and health but is unlikely to cause death or serious physical harm.

Enforcement Timeline: Citations were issued beginning February 15, 2019 with the latest abatement deadline set for March 14, 2019. Of the 6 total citations, 0 (0%) have been marked as abated in DOL records, which may indicate ongoing compliance gaps requiring further regulatory attention.

Penalty Assessment: The cumulative penalty of $19,500.00 reflects OSHA's gravity-based penalty calculation methodology, which considers the severity of potential injury, the probability of occurrence, the employer's size, good faith, and violation history. The per-citation average of $3,250.00 falls within the standard penalty range.

The 2018 enforcement action against Leed Himmel Industries, Inc. revealed a pattern of fundamental safety neglect that extended across multiple critical domains, including egress, machine guarding, and electrical safety. The presence of four Serious violations with high gravity ratings—specifically those related to exit routes (1910.37) and mechanical power-transmission apparatus (1910.219)—indicates a workplace where life-safety essentials were compromised. The citation for unguarded sprockets and chains is particularly telling in an aluminum manufacturing context, as it suggests that employees were exposed to high-risk "pinch points" capable of causing debilitating crush injuries or amputations. The financial penalty of $19,500 for six violations reflects a moderate-to-high severity assessment by OSHA for a facility of this size, particularly given that the individual penalties for the most severe hazards were capped near the same threshold ($4,600). This uniformity in penalty amounts suggests a systemic failure in the facility’s safety management system rather than isolated technical oversights. The combination of walking-working surface hazards, personal protective equipment deficiencies, and improper use of flexible electrical cords points to a lack of routine safety audits and a reactive rather than proactive safety culture. For workers, these citations meant navigating an environment where the most basic safeguards against fires, electrical shocks, and mechanical entanglement were either absent or improperly maintained.